Sleep News and Research

Latest Sleep News and Research

Children of imprisoned mothers generally have insecure relationships with their mothers and caregivers

Children of imprisoned mothers generally have insecure relationships with their mothers and caregivers, according to a new study published in the May/June issue of the journal Child Development. However, the children were more likely to have secure relationships with their caregivers if they were living in a stable environment.

17 May 2005

Valium puts humans and amoeba to sleep

Biologists at University of California, San Diego (UCSD) have discovered that the popular sedative Valium has similar effects on the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum as it does in humans. Their surprising finding that Valium, as well as a "natural Valium" molecule found in human brains, causes the social amoeba to enter a dormant or "sleep" phase, may provide new insights into how cells in higher organisms, including humans, communicate with each other.

16 May 2005

St. John's Wort only minimally effective in relieving major depression

St. John’s Wort, the herbal medicinal long thought to relieve symptoms of depression, provides only minor benefits in patients with the most acute depression and perhaps no benefit for those with chronic depression.

16 May 2005

Black cohosh does not reduce hot flashes in women

Mayo Clinic researchers, working with North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG) investigators, will present new study findings about treatments to reduce hot flashes in women. The research will be outlined during the 2005 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, May 13-17 in Orlando, Fla.

15 May 2005

Coping with pain quite a struggle for half of the U.S.A.

At least 50 precent of the U.S. population are struggling to cope either with the aggravation of intermittent pain or with the misery of chronic pain which is difficult to treat. This results in less work, crankier moods and fewer activities, combined with a wide-ranging search for pain relief.

11 May 2005

Sleeping pills and soda don't mix

Researchers in Arizona warn that sleeping pills and sodas do not mix, and can in fact cause heartburn at night so severe that it disrupts sleep on a regular basis.

10 May 2005

Adolescents who don't get enough sleep might be jeopardizing their athletic performance,

"Young people live in nearly a constant state of chronic insufficient sleep," says Carskadon, "and adolescents who don't get enough sleep on a regular basis are extremely impaired in the morning."

10 May 2005

Creative thinking: try lying down

Keep that pen and paper by the bed: new research by an Australian National University (ANU) PhD graduate suggests it may be that our most creative thoughts come when we’re lying down.

10 May 2005

Carbonated soft drinks can cause heartburn

Carbonated soft drinks and one of the most commonly prescribed sleeping pills, benzodiazepines, can cause nighttime heartburn, according to new research.

9 May 2005

Turning off the box a good start for healthy kids

South Australian researchers have found that just 23 per cent of SA children are meeting the recommended daily activity requirements on any given day, as outlined in the Australian Government’s new physical activity guidelines.

4 May 2005

Glaucoma therapy patients often do not comply with their doctor’s prescribed medicine regimen

A study that appears in the May edition of Ophthalmology, the clinical journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, shows that as many as 47 percent of patients receiving glaucoma therapy do not comply with their doctor’s prescribed medicine regimen. This is in startling contrast to the 90 percent of doctors who believe that their patients are following the prescribed treatment.

2 May 2005

Glaucoma therapy recipients do not comply with doctor's prescribed medicine regimen

A study that appears in the May edition of Ophthalmology, the clinical journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, shows that as many as 47 percent of patients receiving glaucoma therapy do not comply with their doctor's prescribed medicine regimen. This is in startling contrast to the 90 percent of doctors who believe that their patients are following the prescribed treatment.

1 May 2005

New survey finds insufficient savings for emergencies major cause of financial worry among younger women

A new, nationwide survey released today by the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) and Visa USA finds that a lack of personal savings to cover periodic emergency expenditures was a principal cause for financial worry among women, especially younger women.

28 Apr 2005

Sleeping too little or too much may increase risk of diabetes

A new report says that people who sleep for less than six hours or for more than nine hours each night may have an increased risk of diabetes and impaired blood sugar (glucose) tolerance.

27 Apr 2005

Key stresses experienced by new mothers

Tiredness, feeding their baby and lack of time to care for other children are three of the key stresses experienced by new mothers, according to a study in the latest Journal of Advanced Nursing.

27 Apr 2005

Actor-patients' requests for medications boost prescribing for depression

Researchers funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), have found that requests from patients for medications have a "profound effect" on physicians prescribing for major depression and adjustment disorder. These findings indicate that direct-to-consumer (DTC) marketing of prescription medications for depression may exert significant influence on treatment decisions.

27 Apr 2005

Researchers zero in on sleep gene

Zeroing in on the core cellular mechanisms of sleep, researchers at University of Wisconsin Medical School have identified for the first time a single gene mutation that has a powerful effect on the amount of time fruit flies sleep.

27 Apr 2005

Sydney Research Institute raises concerns about sleepy doctors

Professor Ron Grunstein, Head of the Sleep and Circadian Research Group and Dr Naomi Rogers, chronobiologist both of the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, have questioned the ability of doctors in Australia's hospitals to do their job properly given the long hours many are expected to work.

27 Apr 2005

Menopause and African-American women

A study of African–American women in menopause shows that while they experience many of the same symptoms as white women, they report more vasomotor symptoms such as dizziness and bloating, according to a study by a Yale School of Nursing researcher.

27 Apr 2005

Confronting trauma directly most effective for post-traumatic stress disorder

For patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, psychological treatments that address the trauma directly are better than more general therapies, according to a systematic review of the subject.

26 Apr 2005